Launch of Canada’s Revised Food Guide Health Canada’s Communications campaign aimed at encouraging Canadians to eat more nutritious foods

Background Changes in the “food environment” include increased food availability, increased portion sizes, and the ready/constant availability of high energy (calorie) foods. Seven in 10 (71%) strongly agree that Canadians should eat better and exercise more often. When it comes to eating healthy as a family, the two major barriers for Canadian households are time and cost. An estimated 65% of men and 54% of women in Canada were reported to be either overweight or obese (2005). Obesity rates in children almost tripled between 1978 (3%) and 2004 (8%).

Context Food guides are a policy tool that are designed to help define and promote a healthy diet. Canada's first food guide, the Official Food Rules, was introduced to the public in July 1942. Since 1942, the food guide has been transformed many times - new names, new looks, and new messages, yet it’s never wavered from its original purpose of guiding food selection and promoting the nutritional health of Canadians. Since 1992, Health Canada has distributed more than 24 million copies. The Food Guide is the second most popular Government of Canada document and is predominantly number one on the ‘most requested pages’ section of Health Canada’s website. In March 2004, Health Canada decided to revise the Food Guide.

Context – New messages in the 2007 Food Guide 2007 Food Guide was launched February, 2007. Straightforward tips and messages on healthy eating. New focus on amount of food and quality of food choices. Detailed information according to age and gender. Vegetables and fruit have a prominent place, emphasizing their importance to overall health. Specific guidance on daily physical activity as per Canada’s Physical Activity Guide. New interactive web component allowing users to personalize Food Guide information. For Canadians over the age of 50, recommendation of a daily Vitamin D supplement.

Objectives of communications and social marketing campaigns Raise awareness and understanding of the 2007 Canada’s Food Guide To drive the target audience to sources where they can obtain the new Canada’s Food Guide, Physical Activity Guides, and information about nutrition (Health Canada Web site, 1-800 #, Public Health Offices, etc.) Clearly and strategically position Canada’s Food Guide as a tool to assist people in making food choices that promote health To encourage Canadians to eat more nutritious foods and be physically active

Campaign target audiences Primary: Adults, primarily women aged 18-45, who are considered the primary “gatekeepers” of families’ eating choices Media Secondary: Public health professionals Educators Non Government Organizations Parliamentarians Consumers groups Aboriginals audiences, who face different challenges

Communications tactics for Food Guide launch Media relations campaign, including two simultaneous high-profile launch events, Ottawa - English location and Gatineau - French location To increase profile, Minister of Health and Chief Public Health Officer participated in launch Stakeholder engagement and collaboration with third party advocates to broaden reach of message and counter potential criticism Products included: print version of Canada’s Food Guide, Resource for Educators and Communicators, and full-size poster. A comprehensive web strategy, including an interactive Web component “My Food Guide” which personalizes information based on age, sex, food preferences and activity choices. A separate Aboriginal launch and marketing approach.

Tactics for advertising campaign 30 second television ad, English and French $3.8 million national buy on English and French networks, specialty channels, aboriginal and ethnic stations 70% prime time, slight skew to programs attracting female viewers Promoting healthy eating as an enjoyable activity for the entire family and encouraging Canadians to order a copy of the new Food Guide and visit the Web site for more tools and information Air Dates: February 19 to March 31, 2007

Results of advertising campaign Aided recall 32% of target audience remembered the ad 54% of parents who saw the ad were very or somewhat likely to get a copy of the new Canada’s Food Guide in the next six months 48% of those who had not seen the ad expressed this likelihood Expected actions taken as a result of health eating ad include: Made healthier food choices/avoided junk food Influenced family to eat healthy/active Spend time with family/did activities/cooked together Started to exercise/get active

Success post-launch Media Significant and sustained print, broadcast and web media coverage following the launch. New Food Guide continues to appear in media months after official launch. Government of Canada’s 1-800 # During the active campaign period, 27,440 people contacted the Government of Canada’s 1-800-O-Canada number featured in the TV ad 56% of callers obtained the number from the television ad 41.5% of callers placed an order for documents during the call, resulting in 218,109 publications being delivered 55.4% of callers were provided with additional information, which included being directed to Health Canada’s Web site

Success post-launch (continued) Orders of Canada’s Food Guide 2 million copies of the new Food Guide were distributed through Health Canada and Service Canada in the first month of the campaign (in addition to 2 million shipped to regional centres on Feb 5) A reprint of another 2.5 million copies was exhausted by mid-April Reprinting is underway again to fulfill backorders for more than 3 million copies requested since mid-April Total since Feb ’07 launch – 9.5 million vs. the approximately 2 million per year in past. Health Canada Web site traffic The Food Guide section of Health Canada’s Web site received more than 510,000 visits during the 6 weeks that the campaign was on air (normal is 5,000 visitors per month) Each visitor viewed an average of five pages of information Traffic to these pages continued to be far higher than normal (up to 20 x higher) in the months following the campaign 1.75 million copies of the new Canada’s Food Guide were downloaded (printed) from the Web site up to March 28 (750,000 during on-air dates) More than 400,000 “My Food Guide” pages were printed from the interactive tool up to March 31

Highlights and lessons learned There is no “silver bullet” to achieve behaviour change overnight. Long-term approaches, including multi-year social marketing campaigns are required in order to truly achieve success. Testing at all stages is key to developing successful campaigns. We tested all components (television, fulfillment piece) and made necessary changes based on feedback from target audience. Build on leveraging credible, impartial third party stakeholders as part of earned media campaign. Continue to build on Health Canada branding and name recognition as reliable first hand source of information on health of Canadians.